Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Banana Bread


A few years ago we were helping a friend move and as she was cleaning out her freezer, I saw several brown and very shriveled bananas in the back. I asked her what she was saving those for and she told me that when they had bananas that were too ripe, she'd throw them in the freezer and when she had enough stock piled, would make homemade banana bread. I have always made "box-made" banana bread, so after hoarding enough bananas of my own, I decided to try to make a loaf from scratch. I got this recipe from The Food Network's website and of course had to add some of my own touches...mainly chocolate!
WARNING: The frozen bananas are totally gross once they are thawed, not in taste, but definitely in texture. And may I remind you Ahnnie had a very runny nose while I tried out this recipe...gross.
Ingredients:
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 8 Tablespoons room temp. butter (one stick)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 3 ripe bananas
  • 1 Tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Optional ingredients:

  • 8 oz. chocolate chips
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees and butter 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan. (I then sprinkled the pan with sugar so that it made a little caramelized crust on the bread)

2. Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. ( I would add another 1/2 to whole teaspoon of cinn. It was not very cinnamon-y) In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

4. Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears. (Gently fold in optional ingredients. Ina recommends mixing chips and nuts in plain flour first, then adding them to the batter so that they don't "sink" to the bottom)

5. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 mins. or until toothpick comes out clean. (It will turn very dark brown, but don't panic, just keep testing with toothpick) Cool in pan 10 mins. then remove from pan and cool completely.

REALITY: I would RECOMMEND WITH EXCEPTIONS this recipe. The exceptions being the frozen bananas; they kind of disintegrated into the dough so there were no visible banana chunks. I would also add more banana and more cinnamon to enhance the overall flavor. But the chocolate chips were a great addition and to my surprise, we have almost eaten the whole loaf!

2 comments:

  1. Good tip on mixing chips in flour. I hate that when I make chocolate chip banana bread, the chips all end up on the bottom of the loaf. Last time I made a loaf, I used mini chips hoping they would stay off the bottom of the loaf.

    Oh and I need more dinner recipes!!!!!!

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  2. I recently made this loaf with unfrozen ripe bananas and no chocolate chips and it sure made a difference, in a good way! There were a lot more banana chunks, and the flavor was much more intense. Freezing bananas will work in a pinch, but fresh is best.

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